


The Character of the User, November 8th, 2016

by aireagoir



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cowbell Morita...always can use more, Gen, Real Life, With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-08-29 14:41:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8493814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aireagoir/pseuds/aireagoir
Summary: Is it Steve, or is it getting very crowded in here?





	1. Chapter 1

********

 

It’s not that Steve minds the company, he doesn’t. In fact, he relishes it. It’s just that it’s so _small_ in here. Nat kept it short and sweet on his way out the door, but everybody else is showing up all at once.

“Rogers! I can’t do it! So do it for me, yeah?” Steve had nodded. He figured Nat probably couldn’t, as far as he knew she didn’t have citizenship anywhere. Or maybe she had it too many places and that was the problem. He’d ask later. Right after—

OWW. What the hell was that?

“I’m not suited up and I need that kidney, Barnes.”

“Yeah fine, Steve, but don’t blame me, it’s Becca’s fault!”

Becca? Oh, no.

“Uh, listen. Just…two minutes. Are you all right to wait two minutes? Are you safe? Here. Listen to my voice, we’re together and we’re safe, Buck. Just two minutes?”

“Steve, I’m right here. I don’t need to be grounded, didn’t lose time, I’m fine. Seriously. It was Becks.”

No, oh, please no. Buck was lost in time and seeing things. Steve can wrap up and get him back to the Tower in less than ten minutes. JARVIS could set up the therapy suite in under 60 seconds and they could call the therapist and she’d be there in less than 20 minutes without traffic and oh my freaking Thor... Rebecca Barnes is standing behind her brother.

“Hey, Stevie! Thought you’d know by now my gross brother is no prize, but you always did have a stupid streak even the Army couldn’t fix.”

Becca Barnes is in here. With Bucky. Jostling for space in this tiny, little tent-thing.

“Excuse me, I do not wish to be impolite, but I heard your statement, Madam. My name is Dr. Abraham Erskine and rest assured, nothing before my serum nor since could have corrected my patient’s blindspot for our dear Sergeant Barnes.”

“Well, you’re as smart as you look! I’m Becca Barnes, this one’s zookeeper!” They laugh together, as parents of toddlers often commiserate with one another.

“Dr. Erskine?” Suddenly Steve’s mouth is dry and his eyes might be wet. He’s always wondered if he would ever get to thank the man that gave him a new life, the chance to be as indomitable in body as his heart had always been. He has so much to say but his gratitude is replaced by “GABE?”

“Captain! Man, it’s good to see you. Heya Sarge.” Bucky takes the arm not wrapped around his sister and pulls Gabe Jones in for a rough hug, as his head goes over Gabe’s shoulder to exclaim—

“Oh shit, did we die and end up in Fresno?” Bucky is laughing as he now lets Becca go so he can shake hands with Jim Morita, as Steve’s eyes get bigger and bigger. He thought he had seen a lot of things in his two times on this earth, but he _really_ wasn’t expecting this. So it’s especially unfortunate that he chooses now to say, “How in hell is this possible?” because that’s what earns him a cuff on the ear from his mother.

His mother.

Now Steve’s eyes are definitely watering as he holds his ma so tight he almost forgets how strong he is, and of course then Bucky needs to hug Sarah Rogers as she’s tutting over the way he wears his hair that long now, and smiling for all the world that her only son, her baby, is now a hero. She hardly has time to ask if Steve has been eating enough before she then steps aside to admit two more men into their group, polite gentlemen introduced as Misters Simon and Kirby, and Steve knows they’re very important but it’s like he doesn’t know what to say to them until they’ve said it first.

Finally, Steve takes a second and looks around. Without meaning to he whispers, “why?”

Mr. Simon worms his way next to Steve and says, “Well, kid, none of us can do it so we’re counting on you to do it for us.”

Steve doesn’t understand. How they all got here. How they all fit in here. Why now.

So he looks again.

His rock, the man he moved heaven and earth to save, Bucky. A man both disabled and yet with extraordinary ability. Bucky’s sister, a young woman who fought for the right to be equal to any man in a business or on the street. The doctor that immigrated fleeing a tyrant, asking only to do his best for his new country. His soldiers, Gabe and Jim; always working twice as hard to be treated half as well. His ma, a woman who worked every hour she could and yet sometimes needed charity, a helping hand, a little extra to get by. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, two guys that just wanted to be artists, but weren’t going to go far as Hymie Simon and Jacob Kurtzberg.

Oh.

He carries them with him everywhere. They raised him, they loved him, they protected him, they are him. They are all Captain America. But in 2016, in this booth, only Steve Rogers has the right to actually _do_ it. So, he smiles at all of them and they smile back at him. Then they leave quietly so he can get the job done. He picks up his presidential ballot.

 

Steve Rogers is in the booth to represent all of his different Americas.

 

 

"A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user." - Theodore Roosevelt


	2. The three most important words in Steve's world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Nov. 9, 2016

********

"Ma? Ma? Please. I need you."

Nothing. 

"Dr. Erskine? Gabe?"

Nothing. 

Steve is heartbroken. He turns off the TV and rests his head under Bucky's chin. 

"I tried, Bucky. I really did. If I had succeeded would they have come back?"

"Yeah, punk. I think so."

Steve is extremely quiet. Then he stands up and puts his fist through the near wall of the foyer. 

"What kind of bullshit is THAT, huh, Buck? I failed so I'm punished by everybody I've lost? This is when I NEED THEM!"

It's fortunate Steve's fist is embedded in the drywall; it slows him just enough to prevent knocking out Morita right where he stands at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Nah, Captain. Not punished. Just giving you some leeway so you can handle your mission."

Bucky nods. "Yeah, hon. It's time for the embodiment of America to suit up and deliver those three little words everybody's waiting for."

Steve takes a second, then wipes the drywall off his knuckles and shakes Morita's hand. He and Bucky suit up, and by the time they've walked to Trump Tower there are thousands, no, millions behind them, ready to deliver the message. It's a matter of moments before they stand across from the man himself. Steve may be talking but they are all of one mind. One heart. One voice. 

"Did you hear I won the election, Captain Rogers?"

"We have all heard, Mr. Trump. That's why we came to deliver our message. We may not look the same, or pray the same, or speak the same, but every time you insult us, every time you divide us, every time you foment prejudice, every time you diminish the innocent you will hear us loud and clear."

"Just what will you say, sore losers?"

The voices cried out as one.

His ears will echo for eternity. 

"No, President Trump, **YOU MOVE."**


End file.
